Railway track construction



Jan. 24, 1939. -.R. P. CLARKSON 8- RAILWAY TRACK CONSTRUCTION FiledJline 29, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Jan. 24, 1939. v 'R. P. CLARKSON 2,144,508 1 RAILWAY TRACK CONSTRUCTIONFiled June 29, 1955 Y 2 Shets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 24, 1939 UNITED STATES mites PATENT OFFICE ApplicationJune 29,

9 Claims.

This invention relates to railway track construction and moreparticularly to track construction involving that type or kind of railfastener in which the rail is resiliently clamped to a tie plate orother supporting means or in which the rail is directly clamped to thetie or other cross member.

It is well known that numerous devices of this class have been devisedbut have not come into general use, largely because of cost, specialtool requirements, difiiculty in installation, and/or the necessity ofproviding special forms of tie plates from those universally rolled bythe mills and in general use throughout the country.

It is a general object of this invention to overcome the disadvantagesmentioned and to provide a novel and improved track constructionincluding a rail fastener which is simple in design, easy tomanufacture, low in cost, and efiicient in .operation; which permits thecontinued use of the present types of tie plates; by means of whichthere is produced a stronger, safer, and more easily and economicallymaintained track struc ture than those now in general use; which permits:1 and actually facilitates wave motion in the rail without transmissionof this motion to the supporting structure; which distributes the loadon the tie plate without tendency to rock the tie plate and thus, infact, prolongs the life of wooden ties; and which particularly lendsitself to simple installation with ordinary tools and labor and withoutspecial equipment.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention to provide arail fastener by means of which the rail base is secured to the tieplate or other support, solely by the spring action or resilientw-edging effect of a forked or bifurcated fastener which may be readilydriven into position and which requires no bolts or nuts for fasteningor flexing, no special tools for installation or removal, and which maybe employed with the present widely used, ordinary rolled tie plateswith single or double shoulders or without any shoulders at all.

Thus any present tie plate may readily permit the application of theprinciples of the present invention. It is apparent that this feature,combined with the low cost of the fastener and ease of installation,facilitates'changing over present track construction to the more moderncontinuous welded rail construction as it may be done without discardingany present track equipment.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a rail fastenerof the type described which locks itself into position so that when once1935, Serial No. 29,052

placed the movement of the rail is not in line with the withdrawaldirection of the fastener and there is substantially no maintenancerequired such as the continual tightening of spikes or the tightening ofclip tensing nuts, and yet the fastener may be removed and replaced whennecessary or desirable.

From the standpoint of economy, besides the elimination of ever costlymaintenance, it may be further pointed out that the constructionprovided by this invention will prevent the rail from creeping and thuspreclude the necessity of the provision of rail anchors or anti-creepersand will permit the removal and replacement of rails more speedily thanwhere spike securing means are employed to hold the rail.

Another important feature of the structure provided by this invention isthe provision of means whereby the ordinary cut spikes, or the like,usually employed for securing the rail and tie plate to the tie, or formaintaining gauge, may be used instead of or supplementary to, theresilient type of fastener whenever necessary or desirable as, forinstance, when an accident requires temporary track laying or on curvesor elsewhere where it may be desired to use spikes to maintain gaugesimultaneously with rail clamping clips or fasteners without the oneinterfering with the other.

A further feature of the present invention is that it makes possible thescientific application to track construction of the well knownprinciples of balanced three point suspension in that the engagement ofthe rail fastener with the tie plate may be at the longitudinal centerline, which helps to avoid rocking the tie plate, and the engagement ofthe fastener with the rail base may be at points on either side of thecenter line, thus facilitating the slight rocking of the rail during thewave motion caused by passing traflic.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, as will be apparent tothose skilled in the art as the description proceeds, my inventionresides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the detailsand method of construction described in this specification andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understoodthat changes may be made in the particular embodiment of the inventionwithin the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit ofthe invention. I intend no limitation other than those of the claimswhen fairly interpreted in the light of the full disclosure and thepresent state of the art.

Reference is made to my copending applications Serial No. 64,999, filedFeb. 21, 1936, and Serial No. 65,945, filed Feb. 27, 1936. Reference isalso made to my divisional application Serial No. 190,793, filedFebruary 16, 1938.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings which are furnished solelyfor illustrative purposes, it is apparent that various modifications inthe embodiment of my invention are possible, of which a number are shownby way of example, including a form at present preferred.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation showing a rail and tie plateconstruction embodying my invention, utilizing a screw spike for holdingthe tie plate, the rail fastener illustrated being of the preferredform;

Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are fragmentary details illustrating the drivefastener passage in the tie plate;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary transverse section illustrating an applicationof my invention to the type of construction widely used in streetrailway tracks with rail mounted on metal cross members, in this case anangle or the like steel shape;

Fig. 5 is a sketch illustrating one form of rail fastener applied inFig, 4;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of rail and tie plate illustrating the applicationof two forms of rail fasteners, including the preferred form of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary transverse section on the line T'! of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sketch illustrating the preferred form of rail fastenershown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a sketch illustrating a form of rail fastener applied in Fig.4;

Fig. 10 is a sketch showing, in slightly modi fied form, a rail fastenerapplied in Figs. 6 and Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate detail modificationsof fastener holding devices;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary sectional detail on the line l3-l3 of Fig. 6.

Similar reference characters refer to corresponding parts in the severalviews.

The present invention is illustrated as applied to the standard forms ofrailway rail indicated generally by the numeral iii and provided withthe usual parts including web I i and base flanges I2 and [3. A standardtie plate l5 may be of any type and preferably extends beyond the baseflanges of the rail if The tie plate may be held to the cross tie byscrew spikes M, by a reversed rail fastener, by the rail fasteneritself, or otherwise as may seem desirable. Normally, in street railwayconstruction, the rail lea (Fig. 4) rests directly on a cross memberwhich may be any steel shape.

Tie plate l5 may be double shouldered (Fig. 1). single shouldered (Figs.6 and 7), or without shoulders (Fig. 3), or the tie plate in anyconstruction may be dispensed with (Fig. 4) Moreover, the tie plate mayor may not be provided with a cambered rail seat, the detail of Fig. 13illustrating a three point balanced suspension application of my presentinvention to the cambered type of rail seat.

A preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in Fig. l which,in fragmentary section, illustrates one side of a standard, heavy railtype, double shouldered tie plate construction wherein a rail rests on arail seat i5 defined between the shoulders and is yieldingly held by oneor more bifurcated or forked drive fasteners 9 which preferably have astraight, more or less rigid driven leg 8 and, in this embodiment, aplurality of resilient finger members 1, I, (Fig. 8) integral with thedriven leg and which have their free ends engaging the top surface of arail flange !2. The lower end of driven leg 8 is finally anchored orlocked in position (dotted Fig. 1) engaging a surface I! which issubstantially parallel to the base of the tie plate l5. In this finalposition, shown clearly at the left side of Fig. 7, fastener 9 is tiltedaway from the rail, the full lines (Fig. 1) showing its position justbefore the tilting to the dotted position takes place.

A driving head is provided as at B, where the opposite ends of thediverging legs 1 and 8 are joined or become integral.

This particular form of fastener (best shown in Fig. 8) is preferablyformed from a flat plate of spring steel, preferably rustless, by astamping and forming process and the finished fastener is carefullyspring tempered. Various modifications in the particular form of thefastener are shown in accompanying figures, embodying my invention, aswill be described. All, however, comprise a driven or anchoring leg anda pressure resiliently coacting with the driven leg, the fastener ineach case preferably being a driven type. bifurcated or forked, andpreferably provided with a driving head so that the force appliedthereto may be applied in the line of direction of, or the line ofdivergence of, the driven leg.

In general, I prefer to prepare the tie plate for a drive fastener byproviding openings 20 (Fig. 1) through the tie plate, adjacent to and toone side of the rail seat l6, preferably through the rib-like shoulders,if present. Such openings preferably are punched from the bottom so asto form wedging side walls I B for more easily guiding the driven leg ofthe fasteners in canted position. The wedging guide side wall surface I8extends downwardly and inwardly towards the rail center and normallyslopes below the rail seat I 6 to a portion I! which is not a rightangled shoulder but is a locking surface substantially parallel to thebase of the tie plate and a distinct purpose of this formation is totilt the fastener by a sliding and rocking motion so that the bent end 5of the driven leg 8 engages surface I! and the leg 8 seats against theupper outer edge IQ of the opening 20. It is this edge which provides afulcrum for the tilting and sliding motion of the clip. If pre: ferred,the surfaces l8 and ll may glide into each other by a curve (Fig. 2)rather than by the more or less abrupt change in direction illustratedin Figs. 1, 3, and 7.

In introducing the bifurcated fastener 9 into an opening 20, the end 5seats against wedging surface l8 as in Fig. 3, and is guided thereby asthe fastener is driven by force applied to the riving head 6 preferably,as stated above, in line with the canted driven leg. A maul or hammermay be used. Up to the point illustrated in the full line position ofFig. 1 the motion of the driven leg 8 is along its direction and theresilient leg 1, contacting the base flange I2 early in the travel, isspread apart from the leg 8 and tensed, by reason of the wedge surfaceI8 and the sloping topsurface of the base flange I2 or I3, thusincreasing the angular diversion of the legs.

After reaching the point mentioned, and shown in full lines (Fig. 1),further applied force causes the tilting motion of the fastener awayfrom the rail and the fastener is anchored or locked in position byreason of the bent end or hook 5 catching the surface IT. The fastenercannot be withdrawn without first tilting it back towards the rail whichwould require tensing of the clip, as end 5 of leg 8 is further awayfrom the base flange bearing end of leg I in the full line position ofFig. 1 than it is in the final dotted position. To withdraw thefastener, therefore, force is preferably applied underneath the drivinghead 6 to tense the clip, rock it towards the rail, and finally withdrawit. In practice I have found it convenient to first Wedge a cone endpinch bar under the pressure leg I and remove it from contact with thesloping rail base before tilting the clip back towards the rail. It isapparent, however, that no motion of the rail caused by traffic, canloosen the clip.

Moreover, it is apparent that driven leg 8 may be much narrower than theresilient legs I, I, and still be relatively non-flexible, not onlybecause of its straightness but also because of the shortness of theleverage arm about the fulcrum I9 where the leg is braced by the tieplate.

If desired, the opening or passage 20 in the tie plate I5 may be sospaced at the edge of a rail seat I6 as to permit the driven leg 8 toact to prevent sideways motion of the rail and to maintain the gauge ofthe track without the use of shoulders on the tie plate, as shown forexample in Fig. 3, in which case the base flange I2 of the railpreferably extends over the upper mouth of the passage 2|] and thefastener, may be inserted either before laying the rail or by tiltingthe rail and both fasteners, if there is one on each side of the rail,may remain undriven until both are in position.

It is apparent that in the construction of Fig. 1 and other embodimentsof my invention illustrated, the driven member 8 or 8a of the railfastener is canted at an angle to the motion produced in the rail bypassing traflic and because of the Wedging type of grip action betweenthe forked legs due to the resilient coaction between them, the drivenmember is not loosened by the Wave motion of the rail nor is the tieplate holding means loosened. In other words, in all the constructionsshown, the rail is free to move up and down under traffic conditions andthis motion is not imparted to the tie plate fastener because of theyielding pressure of the rail fastener on the rail and the angle or cantof the rail fastener. Additional protection against loosening isafforded by the secondary tilting action of those types of railfasteners which grip the tie plate and not the tie, as in Fig. 1, orthose which grip the tie and not a tie plate, as in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 4 is illustrated an application of my invention to the usualtype of rail construction used in street. railways, with a rail Illadirectly supported by a cross member or metal tie 22, usually a standardrolled steel shape provided with a flange 23 which may be punched as at20c, providing a slanting wedging guide surface I8 sloping downwardlyand inwardly under the rail seat. In the instance shown, the under sideof flange 23 acts as the terminal or looking surface, corresponding tothe surface I! of Fig. 1, which permits the bent end 5 of the drivenmember 8 or 81) to anchor the fastener after the same tilting motion ofthe fastener away from the rail as in Fig. 1.

In the particular embodiment shown in Fig. 4, the form of rail fastenerused at the left, engaging base flange IZa and shown clearly in Fig. 9,is preferably provided with a raised portion 4 on the driven leg 81) toprovide a stop for the edge of the rail base. This permits the leg 8b tobe thinner in section than would otherwise be the case if the opening20a extends out from the rail seat a considerable distance.

Another modified form of rail fastener of the bifurcated type isillustrated at the right side of Fig. 4 and clearly in Fig. 5, in thisinstance a split bar with legs I and 8 spread apart, their free endsengaging the base flange I3a and the cross member flange 23respectively, and the other ends integral to form the driving head 6.

A further modified form of rail fastener is illustrated at the righthand side of Figs. 6 and '7 requiring, in this instance a sloping wedgeslot 24 for the driven leg and an anchor slot 25 engaging a lockingtongue 5a, the metal of the bifurcated fastener not terminating with thedriving head 6a but continued, as in Fig. '7 or less anguiaz-ly as inFig. 10, in full width and terminating with a locking tongue 5a which isintegral with all parts of the fastener, the turned up end of the driveleg, in this case, being not essential.

In place of the preferred right angled end or lip 5, the drive leg 8 ofthe various modifications may be provided with a backwardly bent end 517(Fig. 12) or a punched out anchor lock 50 either of which may beresilient and serve to Wedge against the back side wall of a passage, as20. Such construction is shown in Fig. 11.

It is apparent from the various forms of rail fasteners disclosed hereinthat the inner side of the tie plate opening 20 may be sloped, as forexample at I8 (Fig. 4), curved (Fig. 2), or straight punched. It isfurther apparent that the locking surface I! may be parallel to the railsupport base (Fig. 3), or it may be the base surface itself (Fig. 4), orthe bent end may be omitted but the anchor member fulcrumed on the outeredge of the opening may merely wedge slantwise across the opening.

While my invention may be utilized in any construction regardless of thetype of tie plate used, I prefer to employ a double shouldered orchannel type tie plate, as in Fig. 1. I prefer that the rail seat I6 becambered, as illustrated in Fig. 13, to provide line contacttransversely between the rail and the rail seat, and I prefer that thetie plate be held in engagement with the tie as by screw spikes I4passing through openings I, I, (Fig. 6). Then, as illustrated (Fig. 13)a true three point balanced rail suspension may be provided,facilitating rocking or wave motion of the rail on the tie plate withoutdisturbing the latter. This is effected by reason of the engagement ofthe rail fastener leg 3 with the tie plate at the longitudinal centerline where the fulcrum is, and engagement of the resilient fingermembers I, I, of the fastener on either side of the center line. Inthis, as in other embodiments herein described, the frictional effectarising by means of the resilient clamping action of the rail fasteningprevents creeping of the rail.

The rail may be clamped to a support I5, by spring pressure applied tothe rail on alternate sides of the center line whether or not the particular rail support is cambered, as in Fig. 13 or not cambered, as inFig. 4, for example.

My invention contemplates not only the features of construction so fardescribed but also the provision of additional openings 2| in each tieplate to one side of the rail seat and spaced from the resilient railfastener engaging passage, so that a rail spike 2 (Fig. 6) may be usedsimultaneously with the rail fastener, if desired. The preferred passage20 (Fig. 1) provided for engagement with the rail fastener 9 is such asto permit the use of a rail spike therein, if desired. Preferably thedriven leg 8 is of rail spike width and engages the side walls of thepassage 20 to prevent twisting.

What I claim is:

1. In a railway track construction, in combination, a tie plate, meansfor securing said tie plate to a tie, a rail seat on said tie plate of aconfiguration providing line contact between the rail and said rail seattransversely thereof, and means for resiliently securing said rail tosaid tie plate comprising finger members engaging the upper surface ofthe base flange of the rail on either side of said line of contact, andmeans resiliently coacting with said finger members engaging said tieplate substantially at said line of contact and below said rail base,whereby slight rocking movement of said rail relative to said tie plateis facilitated while longitudinal creeping of said rail is prevented.

2. In a railway track construction, in combination, a tie plate, meansfor securing said tie plate to a tie, a rail seat on said tie plate of aconfiguration providing line contact between the rail and said rail seattransversely thereof, and

means for resiliently securing said rail to said tie plate comprising aplurality of members en gaging the base flange of the rail, one of saidmembers engaging said base flange on one side of said line of contactand one of said members engaging said base flange on the other side ofsaid line of contact, said members being on opposite sides of said rail,and anchoring means for each said member resiliently coacting therewithand engaging said tie plate substantially at said line of contact,whereby slight rocking movement of said rail relative to said tie plateis facilitated while longitudinal creeping of said rail is prevented.

3. An assemblage of the character described comprising, in combination,a tie, a rail section, a tie plate provided with an opening therethroughadjacent the edge of the rail, and means for holding said rail sectionin yielding engagement with said tie plate including a drive fastenerprovided with legs resiliently engaging the upper surface of the baseflange of the rail integral with another leg extending downwardlybetween said first named legs and engaging said tie plate below saidrail flange whereby to yieldingly press said rail and tie platetogether, and means to secure said tie plate to said tie.

4. An assemblage of the character described comprising, in combination,a tie, a rail, a tie plate provided with an opening therethroughadjacent the edge of the rail, and means for permitting relative motionbetween said rail and said tie plate including a rail fastener providedwith resilient members engaging the rail base and a leg integral withand extending downwardly in said opening between said members andengaging an under surface of said tie plate.

5. An assemblage of the character described comprising, in combination,a wood tie in ballast, a rail, a tie plate provided with an openingtherethrough adjacent the edge of the rail, rail fastening meansadjacent to and in engagement with the rail for clamping said rail indirect contact with said tie plate and holding said rail against lateralor longitudinal movement, said rail fastening means including aresilient member overlying the base of said rail and pressing downwardlythereon and otherwise free therefrom, a comparatively rigid memberextending through said tie plate opening provided with a hook endengaging the under side of said tie plate, said comparatively rigidmember coacting with said resilient member to tense the latter, and saidcomparatively rigid member engaging both the edge of the base flange ofsaid rail and the outer wall of said tie plate opening, so constructedand arranged as to present a solid bar against lateral movement of saidrail, and tie plate fastening means, separate from and independent ofsaid rail fastening means, for holding said tie plate to said tie.

6. As an article of manufacture a rail fastener for securing a rail to asupport comprising a pair of resilient members adapted to engage a railbase and means integral with and between said members for engagementwith the rail support below said rail base whereby to yieldingly clampsaid rail base and support together.

'7. In a railway track construction, in combination, a rail and asupport therefor, a fastener for holding said rail comprising a canteddriven member anchored in said support and means integral therewithresiliently engaging the base of said rail on either side of said memberadapted to coact with said driven member to prevent longitudinalcreeping of said rail and to permit wave motion of said rail.

8. In a railway track construction, a rail and a support thereforprovided with an opening therethrough, a rail clip resiliently engagingsaid rail and fulcrumed on the upper outer edge of said opening whentensed, and anchoring means for said clip being free of the outer wallof said opening below the fulcrum edge and extending slant wise acrosssaid opening and provided with a hooked lower end having a sharp edgewhich bites into the metal of said support.

9. A rail fastener for clamping a rail to a tie plate comprising tworesilient pressure members and a driven member resiliently coactingtherewith and extending downwardly between them and engaging the undersurface of the tie plate.

RALPH P. CLARKSON.

